Blog Assignment #7

One of my all time favorite movies is Disney’s The Little Mermaid. No really, I dressed up as Ariel from ages 2-9 before my parents finally made me branch out of the mermaid genre. So when asked to do an assignment on animation, it only made sense to choose this movie, since I know absolutely everything (or at least I did at one point) about this magical movie.

So first, let’s look at The Little Mermaid underwater.

When under water the foreground colors are cooler, making a warmer colored Ariel, advance in the frame. The colors making up Ariel are brighter and more saturated then the murky colors in the background, not only making Ariel advance, but also putting her, and her brightly and saturated colored cohorts advance too.

The lighting is full of shadows illustrating the murkiness of where she lives, and when you see the land frame, you’ll see that it gives her undersea home mysticism and danger. It sets a mood, that especially for younger viewers, of mystery and wonder, capitalizing on the imaginations of the viewers.

Now to the frame of Ariel on land.

In this frame the colors of the rocks are warmer, and the ocean is even a less cool green than it was in the above shot. This makes the land appear cramped and less vast (as it should) than the ocean. The yellowish hue hints at one of the main elements of the story: Ariel having until sunset to get true loves first kiss from Prince Eric. The colors are also very saturated, which can also contribute to making land seem less mystical and full of space than it’s watery counterpart.

There are shadows in the horizon, but we know they are the receding storm, so for now, our fears are placated. But, upon further thought, this darkness also indicates the darkness that Ariel is about to feel when she deals with the Evil Sea Witch. But with the sun shimmering off of the water, we see something beautiful in the true, unwavering love that Ariel and Eric share. This creates and overall happy mood to the frame, because let’s be honest—what’s happier than true love?

In comparing the shots, we see that the animators went to careful lengths to differentiate between land and sea in their manipulation of color and lighting.